Tarentum Regular Run On

Run-on Competition: The Chain of Duty

This will be a unscripted runon event. Each unit will have two teams: the special forces runon, where only members of the special forces may post, and the regular runon, where all members (even those in the special forces) may post. The Special Forces runons will be the official submission for qualitative judging.

Regular rules:

1. 250 word minimum per post.
2. 1000 word maximum per post.
3. Players must post a minimum of 2 times.
4. Players may post as many times as they desire.
5. Edits may occur on a post until a follow on post has been made (follow on posts include "reserving" a space). Only the author may edit their post on the forums. Admin use on the forums during the run on is expressly prohibited for participants. (Email Sarin and myself for anything)
6. Members may reserve post, but no posts can occur until after the reserved post is written.
7. The event will be graded by Raken, Sarin, and Muz using a rubric that focuses on creativity, plot development, realism, and grammar.
8. (Special Forces) Only two members of the Special Forces will be permitted to sit this event out.
9. Members failing to post 2 x times per phase will be disqualified and will not be given credit for participating in the event.

“I think we're lost,” said Levathan swatting some type of insect away. “Piece of junk geo-locator is worthless.” Around him were clustered several members of Tarentum, specifically those of the Jen Kaari battleteam. Swoops and speeders sat idling as Levathan poked at the touch screen device.

“Because they only know what we tell them,” said Anshar, sending the insect back in Levathan's direction. “We don't know quite where this temple supposedly is, so how can that thing take us there?”

“I'm just making conversation,” replied Levathan. Anshar didn't reply. The group was lost, at least in the sense that it did not know where exactly it was headed. Something had not sat well with Anshar when the mission had come down; there was even less known about this planet than the previous few. Anshar had almost declined to join the team on the surface, but at the last minute the appearance of the Dark Side nexus had renewed his curiosity. Perhaps it would provide him with an opportunity to restore the Force's faith in him.

“Let's head over to that hill and see if we can't see something,” suggested a journeyman whose name Anshar forgot. It might have been a fair suggestion, but Anshar knew that what appeared to be a hill on the savanna could simply be a slope and lead to the same picture: endless flatlands with trees pockmarked throughout. Levathan's comm crackled to life.

“Lev, update,” ordered Scion through the comm.

“Nothing yet, boss,” replied Levathan. “No signs of anything important. How's your search going?”

“About the same,” replied Scion. “Let's meet up seven clicks north of your current position. Topographical maps show a particularly dense cluster of trees there, which is strange for a savanna.”

“Copy that,” said Lev, flipping the comm off. He turned to his group. “You heard him, let's move.” Levathan roared off on his swoop, followed closely by the others. Anshar held back for a moment. Reaching out, he called for the Force to come to him, to seek guidance from it. As had become typically, the Force came slowly, almost annoyed at having been beckoned to the Krath master. Were the Force a person, Anshar would very much have liked to speak to it and demand some answers. Even on a planet so twisted by the Dark Side, it still persisted.

“Where to go,” murmured Anshar to himself. At first, nothing happened. Suddenly, though, the invisible wall caved, and crammed images and words into Anshar's mind. Dark, ebony black trees, lashed together with vines, twisted and grown together, scarred by several millennia of attacks by weather and Sith alike. So tall one could not hope to jump over them, yet so thin that one could see through tiny gaps to the other side.

Then, as quickly as the vision came, it passed. What was it? Where was it? And what lay beyond the thin ring of gnarled black wood that seemed impenetrable. Perhaps that was to be discovered. Shaking his head clear, Anshar pushed his swoop into overdrive to catch up. In the back of his mind, he could hear the planet whispering. Now he needed only to make sense of it. And, perhaps, warn the others.

Archean manoeuvred his speeder just behind Anshar. The whole area never felt right to him. He had a sense of dread, dark energy, that lingered like a bad smell. They had been searching for this Temple for a very long time yet he felt like they were no closer to finding it then when they started.

Archean flicked his communicator on

“Lev, you any closer to finding out where this thing is?” He queried
“Arch, umm... I'm trying. It's harder than we first thought. “Levathan owned up.
“So we have outdated geo-scanners? I'm glad our credits are being put to good use.” The Sith joked.
“We're going to stop just over this hill, my scanners are picking up Scion's position.” Levathan severed the link. The Dark Jedi climbed the hill, the other side saw another contingent of Tarenti stationary, in a big dark pool. Scion could be seen using scanners of his own trying to find the position of this Temple. Levathan zoomed next to Scion and climbed off his speeder.

“What have you got, Levathan?” Scion looked up.
“Well, according to my scanners we are about 5 clicks from where our Intel suggests the Temple is.”

Archean got off his speeder and walked toward Anshar. The Krath was deep in thought, the Blind Swordmaster could vaguely feel something was troubling The Dark Jedi Master but he did not ask. The Sith knew that if it was important he and the rest of the House would be told.

“Come, let's see what the next move it.” Anshar, exited his trance-like state and glanced at the Corellian. Archean nodded and followed closely behind the Krath.

Malfurion powered down his speeder at the rally point close to the others. Having volunteered for the rear guard he had arrived a third of an hour behind the rest of the party. At first Scion and a few others had voiced misgivings about a potential traitor protecting the rear flank, but Anshar his master and Levethan had again vouched for him. Most of the rest of the group didn't understand the Quaestors objections. They had no idea that Malfurion had endured months of physical and mental torture at the hands of a Sith spirit during his absence. Most bought the cover story that Anshar had sent his apprentice away on an extended retreat to strengthen his connection to the dark side. Only Anshar, Levathan, The Quaestor, & the Aedile were privy to what Malfurion experienced.

He dismounted the speeder and carefully wound his way through the thick underbrush to report in. He reached a small clearing where Levathan and Saronyx were studying a datapad. Scion and the others were just past them conferring. Anshar was not among them.

“It’s about time you know.” Lev said without removing his focus from the pad. “We’re not always going to be here whenever you decide to just show up,” He continued sarcastically. Malfurion responded with only a gruff nod. Levathans humor was something he was going to have to get used to again. As reassuring as the Flight Commanders light hearted remarks were, Malfurion could still sense a small amount of uncertainty about his presence. The young Guardian walked past to submit his report to Scion.

"My Lord." Malfurion said in a confident tone. Scion looked up acknowledging his presence. "I did two passive sensor sweeps of the area and found little. The only thing of note was a group of large stones arranged in what looks like a deliberate pattern. There were no markings on the stones so I took some detailed stills with the holo-imager."

"Excellent." The Queastor said flatly. "I know you've only just arrived but be ready to move out as soon as we get our bearings."

"Of course my lord." The sith apprentice said bowing his head slightly.

"Master Anshar?" Asked Malfurion

"Through there." Scion replied gesturing to the east.

Hopping over a fallen tree and stomping through some high thorny vines, he came upon his master standing alone staring into the dimly lit forest ahead. If the Dark Jedi Master was aware of his apprentice's proximity he made no outward sign. The two stood there together in silence for several moments when the master broke the silence.

“I trust we are not being followed?" Anshar said coolly.

"No master, besides some small vermin there's nothing the scanners could detect."

"Perhaps I should have really sent you on that retreat to attune your real sensors more keenly." Anshar replied chiding his apprentice.

Realizing his error, Malfurion closed his eyes focused his hate, and concentrated his senses on the surroundings. The dark energy that permeated the planet almost overwhelmed him.

"Don't strain yourself my apprentice." Ashar said "I was only able to barely detect them for a fleeting moment before they vanished."

"Who are they." Malfurion asked

"I am uncertain. But we are being watched." Anshar replied.

The dark wood, a brown so dark it could be black, stared back at Anshar. Just as in his vision, the actual wall of wood was quite thin- perhaps a meter thick on average, forming an irregular circle. Too big to walk around quickly, but small enough to make it around in an hour or so, the strange cluster continued to draw Anshar's attention. The twisted, writhing branches, complete with thorns, looked both vibrant and aged at the same time. Darkened leaves stretched across the top, forming a small canopy and preventing one from seeing through it from air or space.

“This is strange,” muttered Malfurion, trying his best to mimic his Master's apparent lack of concern over being watched. “It does not match the surrounding plant life. At the same time, it radiates the Dark Side stronger than the rest of the planet that we have explored.”

“It does,” agreed Anshar, “yet, it seems like there is nothing flowing from it. Instead, the current within the Force ends here.”

“Could it be the nexus we were told about?” asked Malfurion.

“If it is, it, like the trees themselves, is different,” replied Anshar. “A nexus is an area where the Force is exceptionally strong. I cannot sense anything like that here.”

“What about the arranged stones?” asked Malfurion.

“Perhaps related, but likely unimportant,” said Anshar. Reaching out with his hand, Anshar grasped a gnarled branch, cautious to avoid the thorns. Immediately, the air began to swirl around Anshar, and his heightened awareness screamed danger. The trees rustled and shook, and, as if they grew from the branches themselves, strange, snarling creatures began to appear. Ranging from hounds to gargoyles, all had familiar, yet exotic shapes. About fifteen in all, the creatures attacked the gathered Tarenti, but ignored Anshar. Blasters and lightsabers did little to stop the beasts, and the whole group was slaughtered. Even Malfurion, next to Anshar during the attack, fell in a single swipe from some creature that both decapitated the journeyman as well as cleaving his hands off.

To Anshar's utter shock, Malfurion's severed hands floated up in the air and grasped Anshar by the collar. They began shaking him, steadily growing stronger.

“Master, Master!” The voice shook Anshar from his vision, so real that he had not even realized it. “Get down!” hissed Malfurion, pulling Anshar down as a torrent of blaster shots blew chunks and chips of the dark wood. Raising his eyes up, Anshar saw several Clone Wars era destroyer droids had appeared. A few had working shields, but most did not. Still, their rapid firing lasers were deadly and made them difficult opponents.

“Where the hell did those things come from?” asked Anshar. Nevertheless, unlike his strange vision, these things were very much real.

Destroyer droids materialized out of nowhere, seemingly coming into existence of the ethereal mists of the Force itself. The ancient mechanized war beasts rained crimson death upon the stunned Tarenti, who were hard pressed to bring their defenses to bear before being reduced to so much gory detritus.

Jason Hunter, who had thus far remained neutral and rather detached from the dealings of the rest of the group, now took it upon himself to step up and take charge of the situation. Charging forward, as was his custom, he barreled straight towards the nearest of the destroyers. The droid, undeterred by the Corellian's aggressive tactic, leveled the barrels of its blaster cannons at the sprinting figure and opened fire.

A lightsaber blade, matching the blaster bolts in hue, erupted to life in Jason's hand. His arms moved back and forth, up and down and around, maneuvering his weapon through a pattern of defense so practiced it went beyond mere muscle memory as he deflected the blaster fire with his blade. A few of the bolts managed to find their way back to their source of origin, only to have their linear course diverted by the droid!s hardened carapace. One thing that this proved to be true, and a lucky thing it was, was that this particular droid didn't have its shields activated.

Drawing near his target, his hands going numb from the vibrations of deflecting such heavy blaster fire, Jason leapt into the air and over the destroyer. The blasters tracked his movement, up to a point where the droid couldn't raise the guns any further and had to rotate its entire body to keep up. The movement was slowed by aged programming and old, worn gears. By the time Jason had landed on the other side of the destroyer and begun to spin around, his foe was only just about halfway through its turn.

Turning his spin into a deadly flourish, the Krath extended his right arm, lightsaber in hand, and drew the blade through the droid's midsection. Sparks issued forth as wires and servos complained of suddenly being severed, and the bisected droideka fell apart in two, clean halves.

Taking a moment to look around, Jason saw that everyone else in the group had either dealt with their destroyer, or where about to finish it. Sensing no immediate danger from other droids, and concluding that his compatriots had the rest of the situation well in hand, he shut down his lightsaber but kept it readily available in his hand.

"Something tells me, we've just started to unearth the joyous dangers this planet has in store for us," Jason said to himself, planting a foot atop the wreckage of his destroyed droid and looking thoughtfully towards the odd copse of trees that Anshar and Malfurion had been so intensly studying. "Not by a long shot."

Archean took many deep breaths as the droid he dismantled buzzed and sizzled, crumpled in a heap of metal and circuitry. Destroyer droids were not an easy foe to take down, even for someone as skilful with a lightsaber as Archean was. Nevertheless, the frenetic assault had come to an end and officers were giving their reports to their superiors about the battle they just encountered. Still with lightsaber in hand, the Sith walked toward Anshar and Malfurion, followed by Jason Hunter.

“I don't think this'll be the end of it.” The assembled Dark Jedi agreed.
“We best move on, we must be close now.” Anshar gestured to the near by officer keying coordinates into his datapad. A gentle nod and he was off.

As they moved threw a slew of thorned plants and brush, an energy was building, no doubt all the Tarenti could feel it. It pulsated, like it was living, breathing, laying in wait. It grew and grew before Anshar raised a fist to stop. They stopped inside the dark brooding forest, bereft of sound, or anything for that matter. As the group looked around a low hum began, it wasn't very loud but they could feel inside their bodies that there was a deep drawl coming from the dark.

As they moved closer to what seemed like the birthplace of the deep guttural hum, there was an entrance. No light could be seen from the gaping hole at the front of what looked like a cave. Archean turned to one of the officers behind the group of Dark Jedi.

“Were there any caves in the intel you received?” Jason queried.
“No sir. Everything from here on is very sketchy.” The officer replied. Archean looked at Anshar for guidance.

“This seems to be the biggest clue we've found. I suggest we explore.” Archean declared.

Anshar reached out with the Force. It swirled and flowed through him. He asked the ethereal lifeblood for guidance, to show him the correct path to take. He was almost certain they would find what they were looking for. But at what cost? The Dark Jedi Master opened his eyes.

“Onwards, then.”

"Well... crap." Hades said with a frown. Looking at the tactical officer's board when he confirmed the enemy fleet had deployed anti-starship and anti-starfighter mines on the flanks of their fleet. Studying the problem he took a moment to look at his TAC.

"Our ground team is not in range of their turbolasers, correct?" Hades asked.

"No, sir. They are not. But they will be in two hours since the rotation of the planet is working in the enemy's favor." The Captain of the Magnus Kaerner began to pace as his officers awaited his orders. With the majority of the Tarenti on the surface, especially the QUA/AED and Oberst, Hades was left to hold the fleet together. Spending just a few more seconds on the matter, Hades had it resolved. Well, as much as any plan holds up against the enemy.

"Alert the fleet to launch all fighters and every type of support craft we have. Make sure they are completely stocked on warheads. I want the TIE Defenders to provide a solid CAP for the fleet. I want the TIE Avenger squadrons from the fleet to team up with shuttles and transports to form Hunter-Killer teams for the anti-starfighter mines on the space side of the enemy fleet. The shuttles have a better sensor array than the fighters and will give the TIE Avengers quicker target acquisition. There should be close to two TIEs per shuttle. Get the Wing Commander on target boxes for each hunter-killer group." Hades then re-examined the sensors before confirming his plan within his own mind.

"Once the groups launch I want the bombers to launch as well. Once the hunter-killer groups start on the anti-starfighter mines they will target and label the anti-starship mines for the bombers to engage at distance and destroy.

Hades then turned brought up the B/ACs on his tactical map.

"Order the Cocytus to move in close to the fighters and stay on this side of the bombers. They will serve as escort for that operation. Then order Phlegethon to move toward the far side of the planet on our port and the Requiem to do the same for the opposite side. There are two other groups of the DB here and I do NOT want to be caught with my pants down. " Hades smiled as his well oiled crew completed their commands.

"Is that all sir?" The TAC officer asked a little sarcastically. Hades grinned.

"Nope. Have the Corsair, Doomsday and the MK form a battle line with the Doomsday in the center with the MK in the lead. I want a .50 km distance between the Doomsday bow and our stern. Same with the Doomsday's stern and the Corsair's bow. I want the Doomsday protected with the heavy guns of the fleet. This way we can also provide mutual cover. That's it. Move!" Hades ordered. The officer did as he was told.

He walked towards the front view ports of the bridge and watched as the fighters began their hunter-killer operations and the cruisers start to move off following their own orders. He was worried about his cruisers though. He knew they were not too far off where he could still rush to cover them, but it was still a risk. But risks are what you take in war. For better, or for worse.

As the Tarenti moved further into the cavern, their lightsabers and glowrods providing ample light, Anshar could feel the Dark Side growing. Even for someone at his level, Anshar could feel the weight of the Force; however, unlike some of the younger and less experienced members, the weight did not bear down upon him. Instead, it fit more like a mantle or cloak and, despite Anshar's recent disagreements with the Force, it felt natural and it did not avoid him.

“Is this a Force nexus?” asked Malfurion.

“Not exactly,” said Anshar. “I believe that we will find it deeper in this cave. The entrance just let some of the energy escape, but you saw what it did to the trees around it.”

“The Dark Side corrupts things that much?” asked Malfurion again.

“It can,” said Anshar. “It affects some things more than others, and some people.”

“I'm not entirely sure why the trees grew like that,” said Jason, joining the conversation. “It is almost as if it was trying to keep things out. But this whole planet is infused with the Dark Side.”

“There is always differences of opinions,” said Archean, kicking a rock out of the way. “If this is Nadd's nexus, it could be that a later ruler of this planet tried to seal it off. Perhaps to prevent his own followers from being corrupted to a different point of view.”

“You think that is why we haven't seen any enemy Sith?” asked Malfurion. “I mean, they surely sent someone ahead to investigate. You think they made it out alive?”

“Given that these things typically induce realistic visions,” stated Jason, “I think it is possible that someone could go crazy. So, if anyone starts acting weird here, slap them.”

“Ok, then, you slap Anshar,” said Archean. Jason looked up and saw that Anshar had stopped, his hand resting on a gnarled root coming out seemingly from no where.

“Ah, fu-”

* * *

Anshar let the voices of his fellow Tarenti disappear. He did not know if the others knew it, but he could already tell they were close to the center of the nexus where, undoubtedly, they would find anyone who had gone before him. Anshar had heard of Jedi and Sith alike growing attached to a Force nexus, to the point where their bodies relied solely on the nexus for sustenance. Of course, there were no actual documented cases of that, but legends, unlike myths, often had a kernel of truth buried in them.

Anshar let his mind wander, pushing the mists of the Force aside, almost as if he was walking through a fog. The sheer power of the nexus seemed to be overcoming his own troubles and he was going to take this opportunity. He did not care about the mission at this point, or that One Sith forces might suddenly appear. He might actually get an answer. Pushing through the last sheet of the fog, Anshar saw a huge flash of lightning and found himself in the middle of a heavy rainstorm at the bottom of a hill. Atop the hill stood a hotel, a few lights barely visible from where he stood. It was a scene Anshar knew all to well, one that he had lived through once a lifetime ago. It was where he had set himself upon his new path in life.

Suddenly, two phantom-like apparitions appeared. Though they had no faces or bodies, Anshar recognized them immediately. They swirled for a moment before holding still, hovering in front of Anshar. The one on the left spoke first, the soft voice exactly as how he remembered it.

“You still hold on to this, don't you?” it asked. “You couldn't save me then, but every night you dream about it again, and try to change it.”

“But you can't,” said the second apparition to the right. “I told you that night I would have what is mine, and I told you when you killed me that it wouldn't undo anything. And here we are again.”

“It is kind of hard to forget,” said Anshar.

“And we haven't,” said the apparition on the left. “But you have to learn to let things go. To move on. Everything you have done since that night, every thing that has driven you to become who you are now, is held back by these memories.”

“She's got it a bit wrong,” said the other apparition. “Don't forget what happened, but don't cling to it like you are. You want to know why the Force is holding out on you? Because you relive this damn night every night, because you can't choose how you want to react to this event.”

“Just what do you mean, O-” asked Anshar, but the apparition cut him off.

“I have no name now,” it said. “Here you are, Krath Master, but do you call upon the Dark Side like you did when you killed me?”

“Or the Light Side, when you tried to revive me?” asked the other apparition.

“Just pick a damn philosophy and run with it,” said the apparition on the right. “Dark, Light, Green, whatever; make up your own. But, and trust me this one time, the Force doesn't wield you. You wield it. That is the one thing that the Jedi and the Sith have in common- both wield the Force and use it as they wish.”

“I have no reason to trust you,” said Anshar defiantly.

“Then trust me,” said the other apparition. “Use what you know and find, or make, your peace. Once you have done that, you will not relive this night, but nor will you forget.” Before anything else could be said, a pair of hands reached out of no where and grabbed Anshar.

“Wake up, damnit!” came Jason's voice, shaking Anshar from his self induced vision. Anshar shook his head to clear the cobwebs. “Next time you want to go on a little mental trip, make certain there are no crazies about.”

“What do you mean?” asked Anshar. Jason pointed over to where Archean and Malfurion stood. At their feet lay the body of someone, perhaps a Zabrak. The body was scarred and bloody; Jason shone a light on it to give better detail. Fingernails were ripped off, half the horns on the head were missing, and only a few jagged teeth remained in the mouth.

“This thing attacked us while you were off in la-la land,” said Jason. “And by attacked, I really mean ran at us screaming and frothing at the mouth. His One Sith tattoo is still visible and, judging by that, he's fairly low level.”

“Personally, I think he was part of the One Sith scouting party that got here before us,” said Malfurion. “He went crazy when they reached the nexus and he turned on his comrades.”

“So, do we keep going, or just mark this for later study?” asked Archean.

“I suggest that you dig your own graves,” came a voice from behind the group. They all turned around and saw a group of six figures standing before them. All simultaneously ignited their lightsabers, the combined red aura looking like a pool of blood.

“You are correct about what happened to that creature,” said the leader. “But, regardless, the power of the nexus belongs to us. As you put it, we will study it later. Thank you, though, for being our test subjects.”

“You up for this?” Jason asked Anshar. Anshar turned to his long time comrade.

“Never been more ready than now,” said Anshar. Immediately, both of his lightsabers ignited, the blue and purple blades fighting back against the red glow. Drawing deep upon the Force, feeling it course through him like it had done a long time ago, Anshar leapt into an attack. The other Tarenti followed.

"Sir, the One Sith are launching shuttles towards the planet's surface." Announced the sensor tech, eyes bloodshot eyes never tearing away from the screen for ever a second.

"Can you plot a course?" Hades asked as he moved to stand above the man in the starboard pit.

"Not yet. Give me five seconds." Came the reply.

"Ops, signal the wing commander to ask for four volunteers from his TIE Defenders as well as two from his Scimitar bomber force." As the OPS officer did as he was told, Hades turned his full attention to the sensor tech seated below him.

"Got it. They are heading.. Sir, they are heading directly for our ground forces." The sensor tech was beginning to tremble, apparently the crew like to tell stories about what angry Sith do to people who give them bad information.

"Ops, how many troops do you believe is on those shuttles?" Asked the Captain.

"About two companies worth. Maybe a light battalion if they squeeze them in there." Answered the Operations Officer, who met Hades' eyes and frowned.

"Sithspawn." Muttered the sensor tech who immediately froze and grimaced realizing a bit late that a Sith was standing right above him. Hades would have put that opportunity to great use if he would have had the time. But he did not, unfortunately.

"Sir, the wing commander reports he has his volunteers." Reported Comms.

"Very well. Order the TIE Defenders to divert all power to engines and make an end run, safely, around the enemy position. I want them to catch up to the shuttles, or if they have landed, kill every last one of them. Then, order the Scimitars to do a dummy torpedo run from the stern on the enemy Corvettes. I want them out of the picture. They are fast and with great firepower. Tell them to make one run and return to their previous duties." Hades turned and walked quickly towards assistant Comms officer.

"Patch me through to the ground forces. We need to warn them in case the T/Ds do not make it there in time. "

Anshar's blade cracked and hissed as it collided with what looked like the leader of the figures that lay before them. Jason sidestepped from behind Anshar and with such vicious power sliced downwards, colliding with the saber of the next attacker. Malfurion and Archean raised their lightsabers as they charged toward their foes. It became one massive blur inside the cave, the only thing that could be deciphered were the different lightsaber colours swinging and slashing about. Yells and commands echoed through out the cave and just as quick as the melee started, it ended. Lightsabers snapped back into their resting places and the cave became dark once more.

Being blind, Archean used the Force as his eyes. He could see in the dark as the Forces grey hue lit up even the darkest of places. He saw Malfurion on one knee against the wall of the cave. Anshar and Jason were hunched over, their hands on their thighs, taking big breaths to recuperate. A small white light began to flicker. It got brighter and brighter. Archean's threw the glow stick to Malfurion who caught it as he slowly got up, using the cave as a helping hand.

'Well, we know we've found what we were looking for.” Archean rested Malfurion's left arm on his shoulder.
“Let's contact Hades and get an e-vac out of here. We've got enough information to plot our next course of action.” Anshar moved to the other side of Malfurion, slinging the young Dark Jedi's other arm over his shoulder. The group walked out of the cave and through the thorny thicket once more. The Dark Side energy was dissappating as they got further and further away from the Nexus.

The Tarenti emerged from the forest. The Corellian looked up and saw shuttles spew from behind the clouds above them. He could tell they were not friendly.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

"Sir! It's Master Anshar!" Shouted the Comms officer. Hades ran over his position.

"They are requesting immediate evac." he said after a few seconds.

"Ops! Status on mine clearing operation?"

"Sir, 95% complete. "Replied the Operations officer.

"Screw it. Patch me through to the fleet. " Hades ordered as he glanced out the forward viewports once again. The Comm officer nodded that he was live. Hades took a quiet breath, he was going to enjoy this.

"Tarentum Forces, this is Captain Hades. Doomsday and Corsair are to form up on the MK's outer flanks as the Cocytus and the Requiem form close in. We will be attacking the One Sith Fleet in full force. Both the Doomsday and Corsair are to prevent the enemy from escaping out either side of their mine field. Phlegethon is to move to low orbit over our ground forces and provide cover as best as possible."Hades took a breath and continued.

"Fighters, listen up. TIE Avengers are to drop what they are doing and escort the Escort Shuttles to pick up our ground forces and attack ANY One Sith forces they encounter. All Defenders provide Cap. All ships, flank speed ahead. Fire at will!" Hades had been in many engagements over his entire Imperial Navy, Emperor's Hammer and Dark Brotherhood career. But never as Captain of an Imperial Star Destroyer and he had to admit, he was loving every second of it.

The entire fleet and all of the fighters preformed just as they should. The TIE Avengers dropped their hunter-killer assignments and streaked off towards planet. Almost an entire wing of TIEs moving to provide cover for Tarentum's numerous ground forces. The remaining TIE Defenders formed up to engage the enemy fighters as the bombers began to make runs against the remaining two ships of the One Sith fleet, the first having been destroyed by an earlier Scimitar Bomber run. The Corsair and the medium cruisers were the first to open fire, having a farther effective range than the aging Star Destroyer. The hits were numerous and effective and by the time the mighty MK opened fire, the end was near for the One Sith fleet, and it was glorious!


"Spread out! Move move move!"Anshar screamed as the shuttles overhead started their landing sequence. One Lambda-class shuttle making a slow strafing run over the Tarentum forces before suddenly exploding off to the side of the group. A cheer erupted as TIE Defenders of the fleet began to attack the enemy shuttles, blowing them out of the sky. Those that did land had it just as bad. Soon after the TIE Avengers began to appear, strafing the helpless One Sith below. It was a massacre that each member of Tarentum there that day will never forget. The two escort shuttles landed in front of the team and began boarding operations. Soon after the entire Tarentum ground force was on it's way to the MK. They arrived in orbit just in time to watch the One Sith flagship disappear in a silent explosion.

Tarentum has scored big this day. Just how big, no one could have guessed